Apparatus for crushing rock or the like including a swinging breaker bar



Feb. 23, 1965 A. B. HANSE ETAL 3,170,543

APPARATUS FDR CRUSHING ROCK OR THE LIKE INCLUDING A SWINGING BREAKER BAR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 15 1962 II III I/ l/ I INVENTORS 72 422252 4 Leonard]! 7(1'221 1 QM 590%(51 51 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS -fiame "w HANSE ETAL APPARATUS FOR CRUSHING ROCK OR THE LIKE INCLUDING A SWINGING BREAKER BAR Feb. 23, 1965 Filed June 15, 1962 Q/berz Leonard N fzfizzi' United States Patent M corporation of Delaware Filed June 15, 1962, Ser. No. 202,868 Claims. (Cl. 241-489) The'present invention r lates to an apparatus for crushing rock or the like and includes a swinging breaker bar.

Rock .crushers of the type employing a rotor or impeller rotating about a horizontal axis have been used with various types of impacting structures against which the rock is thrown bythe impeller. Impacting structures which are mounted in a fixed position have the disadvantage that there are limitations as to how close they may be set to the impeller. If they are set too close to the impeller, there will be occasional pieces of rock which are not fractured and which will be sufficiently large to be trapped between the impacting face and the impeller. When so trapped they are likely to result in excessive wear or damage to the crushing apparatus. As a consequence, it has been necessary to space the impacting structure a distance from the impeller sufiiciently enough to permit any such uncrushed pieces of rock to pass on out of the machine rather than being trapped therein. With such spacing, other pieces of rock which would be crushed where they to strike the impacting structure Will pass between the impacting structure and the impeller. In so doing they either will fail to be crushed at all or they will impact against other portions of the structure which are not intended or protected for that purpose and will be damaged by the impact.

In an effort to overcome the foregoing disadvantages some rock crushers have employed pivotally mounted impacting faces. The theory has been that the impacting face could be positioned sufiiciently close to the impeller so that all of the rock thrown would be directed at the impacting face. At the same time, should a piece of rock fail to be crushed it would push the face back out of the way and permit the piece of rock to pass on out of the machine. While a device of this type overcomes the problem previously mentioned, it introduces other difficulties.

The frame or casing of the apparatus within which the impeller and the impacting device are locate'd, necessarily must be extremely sturdy to Withstand the "blows and forces applied to it as rock is crushed. The side walls between which the impeller and the impacting device extend rnust be extremely rigid to withstand the blows and forces applied to them. With a swinging impacting device, it is virtually impossible to provide adequate internal bracing for these side Walls with the result that either the casing must be made substantially more rigid by external construction or it is likely to be distorted and damaged during the use of the apparatus.

We have devised a structure wherein a fixed impacting device is employed. The fixed impacting device being secured to the two side walls sup-plies a rigid internal bracing for the side walls. Thus the external structure for supporting these walls need not be as rigid as would otherwise be the case. The size andpositioning of the fixed breaker device is such that a space is provided between it and the impeller sufiicient to permit uncrushed pieces of rock to pass therebetween. A swinging breaker device is positioned within this space to intercept" rock that otherwise would "be. thrown therethrough without impact. The pivotal mounting and mass of this swinging impacting device are such that the blow between it and .any rock will normally be sufficient to crush the 3,l7fi,fi43 Patented Feb. 23, 1965 rock. If a piece of rock is not crushed upon impacting with either the fixed face or the pivotal device, as the case may be, it will push the swinging breaker device out of the way so that it can pass from the machine.

While the pivoted impacting device has suflicient inertia to resist the rock crushing blows and not be pushed back by the normal impacting of rock thereagainst, it is possible that it can be pushed out of the Way more easily when an uncrushed rock is pushed against it by the rotor than can be the swinging impacting devices of the prior art. In the prior art devices the swinging impacting structures were much larger and more massive since they formed the principal impacting device of the apparatus. As a consequence, more force was required to open them to permit an uncrushed rock to exit with the greater likelihood of damage to the apparatus before the rock would exit. Furthermore, usually they were hook-shaped which might make them difficult to open to let trapped rock out under some circumstances. In the device of our invention the principal impacting face (in addition to the rotor) is that onthe fixed impacting device. The swinging impacting device is in the nature of a supplementary apparatus and it will open and close more rapidly in response to the pushing forces of uncrushed rocks shoved against it by the impeller.

Another advantage of our invention is that it readily may be added to existing crush-ers presently in use without substantial modifications thereof. Many of the pres ent crushers inherently have a structure into which our invention may be incorporated. In such a case it is a relatively simple matter merely to position the swinging impacting device in place and secure the pivotal connections therefor to the present structures.

Further objects and advantages'will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevation of a rock crusher embodying our invention illustrated in section;

FIGURE 2 is a view corresponding to FIGURE 1 illustrating the normal position of the swinging breaker bar; and

FIGURE 3 is a view at line 33 of FIGURE 2.

Although the following disclosure offered for public dissemination is' detailed to ensure adequacy and aid understanding, this is not intended toprejudice that purpose of a patent which is to'cover each new inventive concept therein no matter how others may later disguise it by variations in form or additions or further improvements. The claims at the end hereof are intended as the chief aid toward this purpose; as it is these that meet the requirement of pointing out the parts, improvements,

or combinations in which the inventive concepts are found.

, The illustrated apparatus comprises a casing generally 10 which serves as a frame for the machine. Casing 10 comprises two side walls 11, a top wall 12, a back Wall 13 and a bottom 14. Bottom 14 has an opening '15 through which the crushed rock is discharged. The

They are releasably mounted in place as by means of wedges 21 so that they may be removed andreplaced when Wear has occurred. The rotor has two end plates 22 between which the hammers extend.

Rotor 18 is connected to a suitable power means, not

'machine as illustrated in FIGURE 1.

rock has passed between the hammer and the breaker bar, the swinging breaker bar will again swing down to the FIGURE 2 position to effectively serve as a rock crush-' 7 shown, which rotates the rotorin the direction indicated by arrow 24. As the rock descends onto the rotor from chute 16 an impact occurs-between the rock and one of hammers 2i). Some, of the rock is brokerrat this time. The rock,-broken or unbroken by the hammers, .is-thrown generally upward and to the right as viewed in FIGURE 1. A large portion of the rock so directed will impact againstthe fixed grate 25. .Grate 2'5 issecured .to the two side walls 11', as by means of bolts 25. Grate 25 is de- "fined by a. plurality ofspaced vertical .bars 27 and cross bars 284d. If therock'is sufiiciently small it will pass between the vertical .bars 27 in the-spaces 32.

A swinging breaker bar assembly 35 is pivotally-at- .tached to fixed grate 25. V Breaker bar 35 includes an upper pair of generally horizontal arms 36 attached to .a-pair of depending arms 37. The two attached arms of eachpair is of a generally L-shaped configuration. One end of each of arms 36is journaled on a rod 38 afiixed to fixed grate 25 as by means of-welding. .A face plate 39 and-supports 4% are securedto the lower endsof each. of

arms 37. A-wear plate 4i is held in place by a plurality of bolts-42. Support 49, and plates-39 and 41 jointly form a; breaker bar. At one end bolts-42 are threaded into wear plate 41, the bolts then extend through suitable openings in face plate 39 and between supports 40. Washers 4-3 bridge supports 4d with nuts 44 being tightened against the washers.

In normal operation the swinging breaker bar assembly -3 hangs in theposition'illustrated in FIGURE 2. In this .positiqn, its breakerbar 39, as, 41 is relatively close to the pathof niovementof'hammers 2i asillustrated in FIGURE 2; Because of this. position it is often'called a stripper. The exact size of its spacing from the harn- .mercircle willdepend upon the preferences of the user. The smaller it is-made, thev greaterwill be the percentage of relatively small dimension material, in the crushed rock; The weight of this breaker bar, particularly as that weight is concentrated in the two plates 39 and 41 and supports 4i), coupled with the positioning thereof with'respec-t to the-pivotal axis defined by rods 38, ads

to normally hold the breaker harm the FIGURE 2 position. As seen in FIG. 2, the rear edge of bottom grate bar -3liacts-as a stop against which arms37 are pressed by gravity. As rock is thrown against the wear plate 41 the breaker bar will tend to maintainthe FIGURE 2 position and serve as a rock crushing element.

retaining the rock in the active zone until reduced to the desired size.

We claim: a I r 1. An apparatus for crushing rock or the like including:

a casing having a pair of generally parallel side walls; an I impeller mounted in said casing for rotation about a generally horizontal axis intersecting said side Walls, and driven in a given direction, means to feed rock toward the-upper side of said impeller-at a zone from which it will be thrown both upwardly and in said given direction; a fixed grate device secured to said walls and extending therebetween, said device having an impacting face above and generally in said direction from said axis with its bottom terminusrbeing spaced fromthe impeller whereby part of the rock wouldxpass through the space'between the impeller and the face, said grate device havingopenings theretnrough; arm means pivotally mounted in front of said grate device and extending. approximately.

horizontally through said openings; depending .sup-

port means attached to the arm means insaididirection from-said device and extending downwardly from the arm means; and abreaker member affixed to the bottom portions of the support means andpositioned to intercept said part'of the rock or thelike, saidmernber b eingin said direction from the pivotal connection and at a lower elevation than the pivotal connection.

2. An apparatus .as'set forth in claim 1 wherein the face slopes downwardly 'with'thabottom of the face being in said direction from the topof the face, said openings in said face are vertically elongatedslots, said arm means comprise twoapproximately L-shaped arms having an upperpart'and a lower part, said'upperparts extending through said slots from the rear of'the face with the forward ends. beingv pivotally connected to thefrarne in front of the face, said lower; parts extending downwardly from the upper parts rearwardly of said face, the bottom ends of thelower parts being attached to the'member, said member having an impactingface angled upwardly in said direction; and a fixed stop device abutting said means to prevent downward pivotal move .mentof the armmeans.-

3. In an apparatus for crushingrock or-the like comprising :a frame including a casinghavinga pair of generally parallel side-walls; an impact-hammer rotor extend- However, should apiece of relatively unbreakable material larger thanithe' dimension between the hammer 2t and plate"41 ofFIGUREZ become'wedged between a hammer :20 and the breaker bar 35,'the breaker bar can be pushed back to permitthe rock'to be ejectedfrom the As soonas the ing element. Primarily the rock is crushed either 'by impact against the hammers 2t) or against the'fix'ed grate 25. However, the swingingbreaker bar serves as a supplemental impacting member and in addition servesto retain rock in the working zoneuntil it has been reduced in size to substantially the desired extent. 'lt-will also benotedthat the fixed grate 25 serves as an internal i brace between walls 11 of the casing.

The term rocas used herein is employed to not only apply to natural stone, but also to such other'materials oil-similar characteristics which one might wish to crush ina machine of the general type described. An example of such other material would be slag. V Y

Breaker bar '35 maylbe'made in several sections each mounted on separate arms. In that eventone section may be pushed back to permit a large relatively unbreakable object to go through without disturbing the remainder of the sections. The remaining sections continue their normal function ofserving 'as an impacting member and ing between the side walls and driven in a. given; direc- .tioznmeans for feeding rock toan impact zone adjacent the part of the rotor approaching the top thereof to be fractured thereby and thrown generally in said direction, a fixed screen device securedtosaidwalls and extending :therebetween in an upstanding position for'intercepting oversizerockjand rebounding it in the reverse direction, said casing forming a'downwardly extending passage from the reai sidezof the screen through which the sized rock passing through thescreen device faliStodischarge; the improvement including: a breaker bar positioned as an extensionof the screen device toward the rotor'to. intercept oversize rockpassing under the screen device; and

includingimounting means pivotallyconnecting'said memberto said'frame, the pivotal connection being above and in the reverse of said direction from saidmember whereby ;the weight of the member urges the member to said posipeller beyondsaid position.

amass-3 extending therebetween in an upstanding position for intercepting oversize rock and rebounding it in the reverse direction, said casing forming a downwardly extending passage from the rear side of the screen through which the sized rock passing through the screen device falls to discharge, the improvement including: a breaker bar positioned as an extension of the screen device toward the rotor to intercept oversize rock passing under the screen device, and including mounting means pivotally connecting said member to said frame, the pivotal connection being above and in the reverse of said direction from said member whereby the Weight of the member urges the member to said position and the member will swing away from the impeller when sufficient force is applied to the member to overcome said urging; said apparatus including stop means to prevent the pivoting of the member toward the impeller beyond said position, the entire of said stripper member being located remotely from the axis of said pivotal connection.

5. In an apparatus for crushing rock or thelike comprising a frame including a casing having a pair of generally parallel side walls, an impact hammer rotor extending between the side walls and driven in a given direction, means for feeding rock to an impact Zone adjacent the part of the rotor approaching the top thereof to be fractured thereby and thrown generally in said direction, a fixed screen device secured to said walls and extending therebetween in an upstanding position for intercepting oversize rock and rebounding it in the reverse direction, said screen extending across a substantial part of the path 6 of fragments thrown from the impact zone but leaving a space next to the rotor through which oversize relatively unbreakable bodies can pass, said casing forming a downwardly extending passage from the rear side of the screen through which the sized rock passing through the screen device falls to discharge, the improvement including: a breaker bar positioned as an extension of the screen device toward the rotor to intercept oversize rock passing under the screen device, and including mounting means pivotally connecting said member to said frame, the pivotal connection being above and in the reverse of said direction from said member whereby the weight of they member urges the member to said position and thememher will swing away from the impeller when sufiicient force is applied to the member to overcome said urging; said apparatus including stop means to prevent the pivoting of the member toward the impeller beyond said position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,767,928 Hanse et a1 Oct. 23, 1956 2,889,119 Andreas June 2, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,134,953 France M Dec. 10, 1956 1,022,082 Germany Jan. 2, 1958 1,033,491 Germany July 3, 1958 564,053 Canada Sept. 30, 1958 

1. AN APPARATUS FOR CRUSHING ROCK OR THE LIKE INCLUDING: A CASING HAVING A PAIR OF GENERALLY PARALLEL SIDE WALLS; AN IMPELLER MOUNTED IN SAID CASING FOR ROTATION ABOUT A GENERALLY HORIZONTAL AXIS INTERSECTING SAID SIDE WALL, AND DRIVEN IN A GIVEN DIRECTION, MEANS TO FEED ROCK TOWARD THE UPPER SIDE OF SAID IMPELLER AT A ZONE FROM WHICH IT WILL BE THROWN BOTH UPWARDLY AND IN SAID GIVEN DIRECTION; A FIXED GRATE DEVICE SECURED TO SAID WALLS AND EXTENDING THEREBETWEEN, SAID DEVICE HAVING AN IMPACTING FACE ABOVE AND GENERALLY IN SAID DIRECTION FROM SAID AXIS WITH ITS BOTTOM TERMINUS BEING SPACED FROM THE IMPELLER WHEREBY PART OF THE ROCK WOULD PASS THROUGH THE SPACE BETWEEN 